I’m so Out of Here – Huffing and Puffing

Time for a climb. Throw the walking sticks, the dog (gently), the little pack (with goodies), and me in the car and head straight for the Saddleback.

The air, oh the air…that mossy fresh sparkly stuff that goes with fallen branches, ferns, and big old fir trees, dappled morning sun beams across the path. This is the Hobbit woods, steep and dark on each side of the path. I might be early enough to hear an owl before it heads for bed.

I huff and puff up the steep bits, the dog wildly leaping into the trees, checking for whatever makes dogs ecstatic, bounding back onto the trail, up to the next mysterious deer path that must be nosed. Maybe there’s something dead in there to roll in – that would make her day.

Up the last stretch of deep forest, over a few tiny waterfalls and ta da! The view.
I’m way up overlooking the whole valley, Mt Hood and the Sisters on the horizon, tasting that clear super-clean air that comes after rain and before ploughing and smog. Green rolling pasture below, blocks of forest, teeny houses, high streaks of clouds through the blue, blue sky, a breeze but not too much.

Time for the best part of all.

Sitting on a rock, popping a bottle of my ultimate “spring hike to Dimple Hill” wine. The real glass comes out of the bubble wrap, the bottle comes out of the ice thingy, and the St. Andre gets unwrapped.

It just doesn’t get any better – unless….. maybe tomorrow, McCullough Peak?